Linklaters LLP > New York, United States > Firm Profile

Linklaters LLP > Firm Profile

Linklaters has become one of the top U.S. firms since establishing in New York in 1972. Linklaters is a trusted adviser to many top-tier U.S. companies and our client relationships span several decades across the globe. With a global U.S. team comprised of 49 partners and 162 Counsel/Associates worldwide (as of October 2021), the team brings commercial U.S. knowledge and familiarity with local markets to both domestic and cross-border matters.

In an increasingly interconnected world, businesses demand a firm that can meet them on the ground wherever they are. The network of U.S. lawyers extends across the world’s major business and financial centers including New York, Washington, D.C., Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.

Linklaters’ U.S. practice works together on a global basis to provide specialist advice on transactional, regulatory, disclosure, compliance, litigation, tax, data, antitrust and liability management issues:

Antitrust/Competition

Our U.S. antitrust practice focuses on getting proposed deals approved by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. We also defend clients in international price-fixing investigations and represent them in civil antitrust litigation. Our offering is bolstered by our U.S. foreign investment practice, which focuses on representing clients before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (formerly DSS) and other U.S. government authorities responsible for cross-border investment controls. Our team draws on the experience of former enforcement officials, commercial litigators and antitrust attorneys. Our technical experience is based on a background in economics and a wealth of practical experience in dealing with antitrust authorities in the U.S.

Banking

Our U.S. banking team advises market-leading financial institutions, financial sponsors, mezzanine providers, funds, and public and private companies on complex domestic and cross-border financing transactions, including transactions involving high-yield debt securities. With lawyers in the Americas, Europe and Asia, we have a proven track record of providing the highest quality legal advice across a range of products wherever needed.

Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Insolvency

Our market-leading U.S. restructuring and insolvency practice delivers sophisticated solutions on high profile, in-court and out-of-court restructuring and insolvency matters. We advise financial institutions, investment funds, asset managers, global companies, financial advisors and other stakeholders on all phases of domestic and cross-border restructuring and insolvency matters. Our wide-ranging and well-balanced practice finds creative solutions in complex debt restructurings, litigation, bankruptcy matters, distressed M&A and other asset sale transactions.

Business Crime & Investigations

In an increasingly global regulatory environment, where investigations often span numerous jurisdictions and involve coordination by multiple government authorities, it is more critical than ever that corporations and financial institutions seek guidance from strong, experienced and globally-integrated counsel. Linklaters’ international footprint and deep breadth of regulatory and agency experience ideally positions our business crime & investigations team to respond immediately to our clients during a crisis and to steer clients through their most serious cross-border regulatory matters.

Our team represents corporations, financial institutions, senior executives, board members, and public officials on a variety of criminal and civil regulatory matters, including matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), bribery and corruption, fraud (including trade, accounting disclosure, health care and money laundering), export controls and sanctions, antitrust and competition, data privacy, cybersecurity, the False Claims Act (FCA), and other regulatory inquiries and investigations. We defend clients in all stages of federal and state criminal proceedings and in related civil and administrative disputes, and we have deep experience defending matters against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), among other agencies. By working hand-in-hand with our international colleagues, we are able to seamlessly advise on all sides of multi-jurisdictional investigations, avoiding the challenges that arise with using separate counsel for each jurisdiction.

Capital Markets

The U.S. capital markets teams in the Americas, Europe and Asia regularly advise financial institutions, corporates and sovereigns on a full range of transactions and legal issues involving U.S. and non-U.S. issuers, including equity, equity-linked and debt securities traded on the major U.S. and international exchanges, initial public offerings, high yield debt offerings, SEC-registered offerings (including shelf registration) and non-registered offerings made pursuant to Section 4(a)(2), Rule 144A and Regulation S, liability management transactions involving tender offers and exchange offers and the establishment of ADR facilities.

Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions

Linklaters’ cross-border corporate/M&A practice has a strong presence in the world’s major business and financial centers, with U.S.-qualified lawyers in the Americas and Europe. This wide network allows us to co-ordinate multi-jurisdictional deals efficiently and deal tactically on a global level, while maintaining an excellent understanding of domestic U.S. law. Our U.S. team has a proven track record of providing the highest quality legal advice across the full range of corporate and financial products including public M&A, private M&A, joint ventures, corporate advisory and regulatory compliance.

Crisis Management

In today’s global media environment, crises require a swift and sure-footed response, taking account of the subject matter and the stakeholders involved.

A crisis can put your reputation, financial stability, and key relationships around the world into jeopardy. It can also divert senior management time from the strategic objective of your business.

How to manage a crisis once it has occurred is of acute concern to all large businesses, their boards and their management teams. Ideally, it is best to prevent, avoid or mitigate all potential crises before they grow into an existential event.

Data Solutions, Cyber and Privacy

The U.S. Data Solutions, Cyber and Privacy practice forms part of our global data and cyber offering spanning a team of over 100 lawyers in Asia, the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. team focuses on a wide range of cybersecurity and privacy legal, policy and investigative matters including cybercrimes, privacy breaches and intellectual property theft, as well as litigation and investigations. Much of our work has an international dimension and we have broad experience helping companies prepare for cybersecurity and privacy incidents. We bring both deep knowledge and practical experience to bear when advising clients on any cybersecurity and privacy issue at any stage of its lifecycle.

Dispute Resolution

Our U.S. dispute resolution team advises and defends clients with significant exposure in cross-border and U.S. disputes and investigations. The team focuses on complex commercial litigation, regulatory and internal investigations, antitrust, securities, white-collar crime, class and derivative actions, accounting fraud, bankruptcy litigation and lender liability actions. Our offering includes advising on a variety of criminal and civil regulatory matters, including matters involving the FCPA, bribery and corruption, U.S. economic sanctions, data privacy, cybersecurity, and other regulatory inquiries and investigations. We are especially well-equipped to address the most challenging cross-border internal investigations and disputes, leveraging our ability to draw upon large multidisciplinary and multi-jurisdictional teams at short notice. Our collaborative international teams have represented clients before criminal authorities and regulators across multiple jurisdictions and in a wide variety of fields. Our teams have also successfully handled the most sensitive internal investigations.

Energy & Infrastructure

Our Americas energy & infrastructure team regularly works on complex, large-scale projects across the region, delivering the market-leading excellence of our global practice that has advised on over US$1trn of closed project finance transactions. We have acted on award-winning projects across the Americas – covering renewables, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, oil and gas, petrochemicals, LNG, thermal power, nuclear, water and waste, mining, airports, roads and bridges, ports, stadia, telecoms, clean transport and rail-related transactions. We represent sponsors (including private equity funds), lenders, export credit agencies, development finance institutions, contractors and suppliers. Our broad experience advising on the full range of market participants means that we are able to anticipate and understand the issues that may arise during a project and find constructive, commercial solutions to them.

Environment, Social and Governance

ESG in its broadest sense covers environmental, social and governance issues but consensus on details of the meaning can vary and public perceptions are changing rapidly.

We take a holistic approach, covering a wider range of areas across multiple sectors and contexts– including climate change and resource efficiency, human rights and community engagement, anti-bribery and corruption, transparency and disclosure, risk management and dispute resolution.

The extensive range of experience across our multidisciplinary team enables us to pivot swiftly, responding to your needs and helping your business address ESG challenges as they arise.

Executive Compensation and ERISA

The U.S. executive compensation and ERISA team advise clients on all aspects of compensation and benefits, including corporate, securities, tax laws, stock exchange listing requirements and ERISA. This team has extensive experience in the structuring, negotiation and preparation of employment, retention and severance agreements, the design and implementation of executive incentive programs, equity-based plans and deferred compensation programs, and the preparation of tax-qualified retirement and welfare plans. In addition, we have broad experience with respect to the ERISA requirements applicable to the investment of pension plan assets, and regularly advise financial institutions and investment funds on the ERISA aspects of the structuring and operation of all types of investment funds and structured financial products.

Financial Regulation

The U.S. financial regulation group is part of a market-leading financial regulation practice that advises banks, investment banks, exchanges, trading and settlements systems, and other players in the financial services sector around the world. The U.S. group advises domestic and international banking organizations on a variety of financial regulatory matters, particularly in the context of joint ventures, spin-offs, reorganizations and other M&A transactions.

Fintech

Financial institutions and disruptive companies alike trust Linklaters with their most complex fintech projects. It is a testament to our experience that we have worked with clients at all stages of growth, from early-stage start-ups to established financial institutions.

We have consistently held the position of market-leaders in advising on the application of new technologies to finance, from the implementation of SWIFT payments to the advent of blockchain and digital currencies, and everything in-between. Long before the term “fintech” was coined, we had been working on ground-breaking technological developments in financial markets for years.

Our strong relationships with regulators, banks, insurers, funds and infrastructure and service providers mean that we understand the issues that affect every area of the financial technology ecosystem. This enables us to deliver incisive, informed and innovative advice across the fintech spectrum.

Foreign Investment (CFIUS)

Our global foreign investment team provides sound, practical advice to help clients navigate the evolving challenges of national security reviews of cross-border investments. In the U.S., we advise both U.S. and non-U.S. parties, and represent clients before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency and the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, among others.

Our CFIUS team has advised clients on successful transactions globally, including complex, high-profile investments involving sensitive technologies, infrastructure and customers. We have an in-depth understanding of the new rules governing CFIUS and the broader foreign investment environment, and are thought leaders on the implementation of CFIUS reform legislation.

International Arbitration

Our international arbitration practice is one of the largest in the world. The team, led by 30 partners and counsel, act as arbitrators and counsel in arbitral proceedings throughout the world, including the key arbitration centers of Paris, New York, Washington D.C., Madrid, Geneva, London, São Paulo, Mexico, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai.

We act under the rules of all of the major arbitral institutions, in ad hoc proceedings (e.g. under the UNCITRAL Rules) and in investment arbitration matters under bilateral and multilateral treaties. Our capabilities extend beyond the countries where Linklaters has offices. The team has recently worked on arbitration cases in Peru, Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Austria, Switzerland, Iraq and Angola.

Investment Funds

Our U.S. investment funds practice advises on structuring, formation, taxation and regulation of all types of investment funds, investment management arrangements, separately managed accounts and co-investments for investment in a broad range of asset classes. Our clients rely on our in-depth knowledge of the alternative investment space, which, together with an expansive global footprint, enables us to provide strategic as well as product-specific advice to clients looking to move into new markets, diversify their offerings and access new investors. We produce tailored products bespoke to the client, asset type and commercial deal. In addition to our sponsor practice, we also have a strong and diverse investor practice. We are experienced in the commercial, tax, regulatory and logistical concerns that need to be married when investing. By acting for a wide range of investors we gain exposure to the broader market and the latest approach to fund terms. Acting on both sides of the table gives us a deep understanding of the drivers that influence sponsors and investors and provides us a rounded perspective of the market as a whole.

Structured Finance and Derivatives

Our U.S. structured finance and derivatives team handles domestic and international securitizations; distressed transactions; repackagings and other structured products; risk-based capital and balance sheet relief transactions; transactions involving commodity, carbon, equity and insurance-linked exposures; hedge-fund-linked and hedge fund finance products; repos and securities lending; treatment of derivatives under the U.S. insolvency regime including netting and other opinions; and regulatory advice in respect of a wide array of clearing, derivatives and securitization matters (including in respect of Title VII and Title IX of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Commodity Exchange Act and U.S. securities laws).

Sports

Our U.S. sports sector team operates as a single multidisciplinary practice across the firm’s global offices in collaboration with colleagues and combines a real passion and understanding of the industry and its specific requirements and pressures (including increased regulatory scrutiny) with exceptional multi-jurisdictional expertise across all areas of corporate/M&A, finance and banking, capital markets and equity financing, commercial, technology and media, crisis management, cyber/data protection/IP, dispute resolution, regulatory and compliance investigations, restructuring and insolvency, antitrust, HR/employment and tax matters. We have represented major U.S. and international sports organizations, such as the National Players Football Association, FIFA, Fulham Football Club, McLaren Formula One and Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing. This puts us in a unique position to be able to provide our clients with a full and seamless end-to-end service to help them successfully navigate the most complex and high-profile matters arising in the sector.

Tax

Our U.S. tax team counsels clients in M&A transactions, spin-offs and other divestitures, internal restructurings, consolidated return matters and workouts, as well as transactions involving REITs, partnerships and other pass-through entities. We have a strong and well-regarded U.S. tax practice that has undertaken complex cross-border transactions for some of the world’s largest corporations, investment funds and sovereign wealth funds, both U.S. and non-U.S. headquartered. These transactions have included an extensive range of U.S. tax issues involving both intra-group and external acquisitions, dispositions, investments, spin-offs, restructurings and financings.

Check out: Linklaters U.S. practice | Linklaters

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